Our societies are destructive, built upon a destructive conception of power.

Power over and power to are two distinct understandings of power. While our societies should aim for the power to, they are built upon the power over. This renders most of us powerless by design.

It was an evening among a collegial supervision group of facilitators. We were reflecting on transformation and power. One of my colleagues struggled with the word 'power' itself. He found power to be an amoral, almost destructive force in our society, our families, our communities, and our way of dealing with nature. So, vehemently, he refused to use the word.